Animals in Laboratories

Are animals necessary in laboratories?

Index- Animal experiments- Animal experiments in figure- Victim species of experiments - Fields where they are used- Groups - Alternative methods to animal

experiments

Vocabulary- Dissections: disecciones

- AIDS (disease of the inmune system): SIDA (síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida

- Isolated: aislada

- Mice: ratones

- Mainly: principalmente

- Breed: reproducirse

- Cell: célula

- Tissue: tejido

- Trial: estudio

Animal experiments The first references to animal experiments are

dated from II and IV b.C. written by the Greeks.

Many scientists along history made dissections, for example:

- Non-human primates are used in AIDS cure investigation

- Insulin was isolated for the first time in 1922 by using dogs.

- In 1957 a Russian dog was the first animal to orbit the Earth.

Some of the events and discoveries are:

Animal experiments in figures

The ten countries that use more animals in their experiments are: United States, Japan, China, Australia, France, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Taiwan and Brazil.

In Spain, the number has increased more than 51% from 2005, reaching 1,4 millions in 2010.

In the European Union the number overcomes 12 millions.

Victim species of experiments Among the animal species used for experiments we

can find: cats, dogs, rats, mice, rabbits from India, rabbits, fishes, birds, primates and farm animals.

Fields where they are used Studies carried out by FDA have shown that 92% of the

pharmaceutical potential products, that are supposed to be effective and safe in animal experiments, fail in clinical trials.

This fact provokes the death to 58,000 people every year.

Groups The experiments carried out in animals can be

included in four kinds:- Product test of consumer goods- Military research- Education and training- Biomedical research

Alternative methods to animal experiments

This fact helps to introduce alternative methods such as:

- Cell, tissue and organs culture -Trials in volunteer humans -Clinical research -Software and mathematical models -Epidemiological studies